Price cap

Apart from military action, Russia warned that it would cut oil supplies over a Western price cap.

"We won't supply oil under contracts that will indicate a price cap that's proposed by Western countries. That's ruled out," Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

On Dec 5, an embargo on maritime Russian oil shipments to the European Union came into force. Moreover, EU states also agreed on a price cap for Russian oil delivered by sea, setting the ceiling at $60 a barrel.

A similar decision was announced by the G7 and Australia. The West is also banning its companies from providing transportation, financial and insurance services to tankers carrying oil from Russia at a price above the agreed-on ceiling.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the Russian side will wait until the final parameters of the EU embargo are clear, as Moscow does not understand what can substitute for Russian oil products in Europe.

At the same time, he did not rule out that several countries may ask to be exempt from the embargo on supplies of Russian oil products.

Agencies contributed to this story.

REN QI in Moscow

renqi@chinadaily.com.cn